Hi I’m a 15 year old and a sophomore in high school. My dream is to become a locomotive engineer when I grow up. I want to hire on at CSX. I know I will have to start out as a freight conductor and work my way up. I also hear people say some railroaders don’t like railfans. I’m in no way a foamer. I do enjoy watching trains and waving at train crews but I’m not into steam engines, having scanners to hear train crews, engine numbers, etc… I’m not planning on going to college so I want to hire on after high school. Currently I’m looking for some teenager jobs. What kind of jobs should I try to get? Also what can I do now to help my chances of hiring on? Thanks.
College is a good start. Do you need it? Maybe not, but it will surely help now. You will need good language and math skills, as well as good computer skills. LION thinks that hiring on out of high school is slim, especially since there are no station agents or tower operators.
If college is not for you, then maybe the military will give you a leg up when it comes to being hired. They want to see that you have some reliability and good work habits.
ROAR
If there is any way you can get to college…even start at a community college…do so!!!..the more education you have, the more you know what is going on around you and can assimilate it and learn to learn, the better off you will be no matter what you decide to do. Then you can go directly to CSX or whereveryou want to work or to the military and sign up for transportation or railroad or whateve they have today. You might even want to do that before college or as part of an ROTC enlistment. Then, watch the web site for CSX to see where and when they may be hiring. …you may also want to check out NS or any other railroad’s web sites for hiring opportunities and then go to CSX later. As for now, teenager jobs as you call them…doesn’t matter…learn to learn, learn responsibity, learn to take orders, learn to think, learn to be disciplined no matter what the job because that is what you’ll take with you wherever and whenever you go. At 15 you actually could be changing your mind and attitudes about a dozen times at year for the next 10 or more year…keep you mind open but full.
For what you want to do I am less enamored of college than the previous posters. Right now something like 30-40 % of college graduates are not working their field, which says they may not have gotten a lot of benefit from college. College costs twice, the money you spend to go AND the income you forego for the time you attend.
Lest you think I am an uneducated redneck I have a 4 year degree in Business Admin - Transportation plus an MBA in Finance. I can tell you with some confidence that modern portfolio theory says that only the very lucky can build a stock portfolio that will outperform the market. Not bad for six years of education, HUH? I did not use my education to its fullest. I stayed railroading.
You have three reasonable choices. One, do as you plan and go railroading right out of high school. If I were you I would go RIGHT NOW to the nearest CSX crew terminal and talk to the trainmaster. I think he will confirm that you do not need a college education to be a locomotive engineer. He will probably also try to scare you out of it because the lifestyle is awful. You will spend most of your life on call, your sleep cycle will be all messed up, and you will miss every important day of your kid’s life unless you lay off, which is discouraged. The point is that deciding to live this way for 30 years or more is a big decision to make right out of high school.
Another choice is to go to college. With luck you can avoid the worst of the useless idiot professors. Avoid particularly social science since it is all political correctness and no science. A college buddy once said that a degree just proves you can put up with BS. He was right, even if I was a bit slow to agree. College may open paths you do not now see. College could allow you to go railroading as an officer rather than a working man.
Another choice is the military. Railroads generally like to hire vets because they have been in a “disciplined environment”. This course gets you some life exper
You can go to terminals and talk to trainmasters? I never knew that. Are you sure they let you do that?
I subscribe to the idea of college as it not being a vocational school…which with students able to borrow lots of money to give to the schools whether they learn or even graduate, thus it is money for the colleges paid back by those who borrowed it…If a student want to go to college on this own terms, then he is open to learning, discipline, and success. I am a dinasour in that I believe in a liberal arts education where one gets to sample a lot more than the nuts and bolts of one thing. Even one or two years would give a bright and intelligent person a needle pointing in a direction. Armed services can do a lot, too. The important thing for 16 to 25 year olds is to learn how to think, how to learn, find out what all there is around them before settling down…the last two years of high school is the start of the process, and the first and second years of college or military begin the orientation…by the second year out of highschool, ideas and thought of where to to, what to do start to emerge and the solidfying of your education begins.
They do not have armed guards to keep you out!
Your big decision is whether or not to call ahead. Reasons to: find out the guy’s name. You may get lucky and he will talk to you on the phone and save yourself a trip. The longer the trip the more reason to call. Parents may not be willing to take you there. Neighboorhood may not be the best. If you want to railroad you need to get used to that.
Reasons not to: It is easier to avoid someone on the phone than in person. Even if you get an appointment, he may not be able to keep it. Stuff happens and he gets called about everything.
Mac
I agree with Mac.
Call first, but also consider driving there and doing just as he says…When you get to the terminal office, ask the first person you see to direct you to the trainmaster on duty, trust me, they will point you to the right person.
I also think college is a good idea, education is important.
Keep in mind there are a lot of on line universities out there that offer an associate’s degree in a lot of fields, so keep that in mind…if railroading turns out to not be all you though it would be, and you have an associate’s degree, your one step ahead of the game.
Yes, the military option is out there, but keep in mind they are flooded with applicants and don’t have the need for 90 percent of those that apply.
Military service is a plus, it shows you are dependable, willing and able to follow orders and used to being outdoors and working hard.
Air Force and Navy are looking at the top 5% of high school grads who have heavy math and engineering skills.
Both services already have enough warm bodies to fulfill the rest of the jobs they offer.
Words of warning…the first years at the railroad you will work outside in the worst weather you can imagine, be filthy, hot, sweaty and stinky, your back arms and neck will hurt a lot of time, and you will work every weekend, at all hours of the day.
The old
Well, I know I changed my mind 150 times with what I wanted to do back in the day. From truck driving, railroading, electrical work, electrical engineering, to the military. Got an industrial electricians journeyman licence, went to college for a degree in electrical engineering, a CDL, and ended up joining the Air Force 5 years ago as an avionics maintainer. Hopefully in 15 years I’ll get a job doin’ somethin’ electrical like for a RR.
Whatever you do, don’t be stupid, don’t get a record, don’t knock up the prom queen, ect…
Adrianspeeder
College is not REQUIRED for being a Conductor or Engineer. That being said, many C&E after a few years decide that the life style does not fit their intended life and are looking within the company for other alternatives…that is where College comes in. Having a degree opens doors out of the operating crafts.
A acquaintance of mine hired out of HS with the BNSF as a Conductor a couple of years ago and is now a promoted locomotive engineer; he loves it - but he is single and not currently into skirt chasing.
I don’t know about CSX, or most other railroads, but when I hired out in 1998 the UP wanted either two years of work experience or two years of some form of post high school education. They didn’t require a college degree, but it seems unlikely they would hire someone right out of high school.
One thing to think about is the competition for any openings you apply for. All things being otherwise equal, someone doing the hiring may look closer at someone who has some post HS education, even if it doesn’t directly translate to needed skills for TE&Y.
I can relate with college not being for you. However in this day and age, not to mention the future, you should consider at least a community college or trade school for a couple of reasons. One, it might give you a leg up on the competition. Especially if it’s something that might help on the railroad, even if it’s not TE&Y, like diesel mechanics or welding. Second it’ll give you something to fall back on in case the railroads aren’t hiring when you’re ready or for the downturns in business when you are furloughed. (Not to mention the specter of one person crews and the effects on employment that would have sometime in the future.)
That’s one thing you do have going for you. Barring some major upheavel (like one man crews on through trains) the railroads should be hiring off and on for the forseeable future. Some locations may have better opprotunitites than others. Also don’t forget about opprotunities for employment on short lines/regionals. Their hiring requirements might be less rigid than a Class 1. Pay and benefits may be less (a few might be comparable), but the experience is just as good and could lead to employment on a Class 1.
In any case, good luck to you. The most important
I just never thought about college since I’ve been wanting to be a railroader for nearly my whole life. If I don’t become an engineer I’d want to be a police officer. If anything I’d probably go to college for that.
I was a good high-school student, graduated with honors, college-bound, the whole nine yards.
I also was enough of a railfan to be known to the local crews, which back then resulted in cab rides, throwing switches, passing signals (all of which I did very willingly), and riding on freights, either in the caboose or some rough-riding locomotives. I had my “legs” before I had my diploma.
So I went to college…honor student the first year, burnout by year 4. Blamed the major, and decided to take a break from college and do something I wanted to for a while (after which the plan was to basically start over with a different major, salvaging what I could). So I got a railroad job. Nice break–lasted nearly 40 years, and I have no desire to go back to school. I do all right without it, thanks.
I’m sure that many things I learned in college were helpful to me later in life (and I know that the girl I met there eventually made a great wife, who put up with a railroader’s tough schedule and social life). So yes, an all-around program of education in college might do you well, whether or not you find something to get a degree in (I understand that decision is now forced upon you fairly early on).
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When I was in college I learned the single most important thing is to be goal oriented about what you want. You have the goal orientation. That is a big plus.
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I assume you live in or near a place where CSX hires people.
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Have you discussed your goal with your guidance counselor at school? That would be a good beginning. I don’t know what assistance you can get there but there may be something for you to build on.
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Does CSX have any summer jobs for young people? If not are there any other railroad related summer jobs available? It is a little early to be applying but not too early to think about it and be ready to apply after the first of next year.
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Part of this is surfing around the CSX website to see what the job listings are. You might set up a notebook and monitor them for several months to see if there is something you want to pursue.
All of the above is about summer or perhaps a part time job while you are in high school. But if you are doing these things for three years you sure will know a lot about railroad jobs and what you may want to pursue.
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As far as college goes, with your goal orientation if you choose college you should choose something relevant to railroads. You could do this at a community college or a 4 year college. The classic way would be to study engineering, particularly civil engineering. To do this you need will need a strong background in math. In high school you need at least 2 solid years of algebra and a year each of chemistry and physics. If you can get pre calculus in high school all the better because the biggest hurdle will be when you face calculus. If that is not your strong point I still suggest 2 years of algebra in high school.
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There are college courses without such strong math demands. Again, talk to your guidance counselor
The major Class one railroads also have their own police force/special agents. Don’t forget that railroads are more than just engineers, conductors and switchmen. There’s a lot of other crafts that make the railroad work.
(Before I hired out on the UP, I volunteered at our local tourist/musuem railroad for a couple of years. I did not only the train and enginemen bit, but also on their track gang. My second year I was even part time paid help on their track gang. As much as I enjoyed working with the trains, some of my best memories there are from working with track gang.)
Jeff
Yes. The LION said something about college. There are things to say against college too. I think that it is a major travesty of justice that kid should graduate from college with $20 to $80,000 of debt at a time when he can least afford it.
Yes. Live at home, find some work so that you can build a job resume, pay your parents room and board, and attend college, perhaps at night.
The LION graduated high school number 510 out of a class of 550. College was not in the cards, the Vietnam war was, so I joined the Navy. It is good training, a good opportunity to travel (Maybe), and it gave me time to grow up. Ok, so I spent four years as a cook on an air craft carrier.
After the service, and after some more time in other jobs I returned to college, always part time, it took four years to finish a two year degree and another four years to earn a BS degree, but my degrees were all “With Honors”.
I never did get a job on the railroad. I became a monk instead, but at least my train layout is the “Largest Subway Layout in the State of North Dakota.” And I am where I belong.
Elias
Well, you’re only 15. Still have a few years before you have to make a decision. But in this economy, get as much education as you can, And if you have any ability in math or science, then please pursue it. There’s lots of jobs that work with railways that aren’t T&E service. And you can always find a tourist/museum railway to play trains for fun.
But I know you probably won’t listen to that advice since I sure as hell didn’t when I was 15.
I graduated high school with the usual honors, went to college, changed majors about 45 times, and ended up spending my last two years on the dean’s list. I should have went right into grad school, but I decided to try to minimize my debt and work for a year or two. And the career path I was pursuing is mostly in the government, and with the hiring freezes, my chances didn’t look good. The RR was hiring, and I landed a job. Worked 5 years as a conductor, and now work dispatching. Even if I am second-guessing that decision (grass is always greener), I know I wouldn’t be here without my college degree. So while I am not exactly working in my major - it still got me a job.
There is nothing wrong with having an interest in railroads. Many here do. If I didn’t, I doubt I’d have stuck around.
I’m with Balt and Zug - go to college, even the area junior/community college.
In some ways, you remind me of those athletes who are convinced they are the next big thing and eschew education because they know they’re gonna be the next big thing. Then they blow out their (name a joint) and sports is nothing more than a fond memory.
Usually you can get through a junior college fairly cheaply, given the appropriate grants and scholarships that are usually available. Having that Associates degree shows you’ve got some stick-to-it-iveness, and provides the basis for further education
The military is not a bad option. Shop around the recruiters and see what’s available for jobs. Just keep in mind that while they may look for one skill this year, something else may be in demand next year.
Keep in mind, too, that you may just find the woman of your dreams and decide that the irregular hours of railroading don’t square with your view of family life (reams have been written here about that).
Running a locomotive is fun (unless your consist is a mess or the loco has a mind of its own), but it’s not all fun and games. And in today’s world, you might just get qualified in the seat only to get bumped back down.
Keep your options open - but keep following your dream as well.
I’m not all that good in school. My class rank is 297 out of 355. I’m not that good in math or science. College just doesn’t really interest me.
Remember one trite saying -
Too soon old, too late smart.